Area jobless rate shrinks

ATLANTA — The Georgia Department of Labor reported that the preliminary unadjusted unemployment rate in the metro Savannah area declined to 8.0 percent in November, down three-tenths of one percentage point from revised October figures.

In November 2008, there were 10,490 jobless workers in metro Savannah, when the unemployment rate was 5.9 percent. The number of payroll jobs in metro Savannah last month was 153,900, a loss of 5,000, or 3.2 percent, from 158,900 in November 2008.

Effingham County’s unemployment rate for last month was 7.7 percent.

Meanwhile, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose slightly to 10.2 percent in November, up one-tenth of a percentage point from a revised 10.1 percent in October. The November jobless rate was up 3.1 percentage points from the same time last year.